SAN FRANCISCO — The drama over the fate of a divorcing couple”s fertilized embryos has reached its final stages, with the wife getting a chance to tell her story to a judge deciding the precedent-setting legal showdown.

In a trial that has attracted nationwide attention, including a “Good Morning America” crew, Mimi Lee, a Harvard-educated anesthesiologist and breast cancer survivor, is expected to testify Thursday in a bid to claim control over the stored frozen embryos to preserve her only chance to have children.

The 46-year-old Lee, rendered infertile by cancer treatment, is locked in the midst of a bitter divorce feud with estranged husband Stephen Findley, who wants the embryos, stored at UCSF”s fertility center, destroyed under the terms of agreements they signed when she underwent fertility treatments five years ago.

The case, considered an unprecedented test in California of the legal boundaries of such disputes, started with Findley taking the stand Tuesday and Wednesday to testify that he believed the couple signed a binding agreement that the embryos would be destroyed under certain circumstances, including divorce. Findley, a wealthy investment executive, has resolved the rest of his divorce case with Lee, including financial terms.

During his testimony, Findley described worries about the embryos bearing his children, saying he would want to be involved in their lives but cannot envision how it could work given that he is unable to have a cordial conversation with Lee. Findley testified that Lee even tried to extort millions of dollars from him for the embryos after he asked for a divorce, and always believed the embryos would be discarded if the couple split.

He also told a judge that Lee warned him about what she”d tell any children born from the embryos about their father if he was not “generous” in the divorce.

“(It would be) difficult for me to be forced to be a parent outside our marriage,” said Findley, who has been on crutches for the trial, the result of recent foot surgery. “I didn”t think the embryos were an issue in the divorce case because I remember the agreement we signed.”

On the eve of their September 2010 wedding, Lee was diagnosed with cancer, prompting the couple to rush to UCSF”s fertility center, where five of Lee”s embryos — fertilized by Findley — were cryogenically frozen and preserved for a possible future with offspring. The couple is now fighting over those embryos in the divorce.

In Lee”s case, her lawyers are urging Superior Court Judge Anne-Christine Massullo to find that destroying the embryos would destroy an infertile woman”s ability to “realize the fundamental and constitutionally protected bond of a parent and a child.”

Findley, however, relies on signed documents at UCSF that included provisions for destroying the embryos under various circumstances, including divorce; he considers those agreements a binding contract. Despite the emotional underpinnings of the dispute, the language and force of those agreements is at the heart of the trial.

Closing arguments are expected early next week. Once the trial is over, the judge plans to take the matter under consideration and issue a written ruling later.

UCSF, meanwhile, is caught in the middle but takes the position that its signed directives should be considered “valid and enforceable” by the courts.

While the trial breaks new ground in California, where the courts have yet to address the question directly, feuding couples in other states have forced the legal system to deal with the modern dilemma of deciding who gets to decide the fate of these stored embryos in the event of a split.

The most high-profile example has been the recent spat between Hollywood star Sofia Vergara and ex-fiance Nick Loeb, who has sued for custody of their stored embryos. And a Chicago appeals court last month ruled in a high-profile case that a woman in a situation similar to Lee”s — she was also left infertile by cancer — could use the embryos despite her ex-boyfriend”s opposition.

Howard Mintz covers legal affairs. Contact him at 408-286-0236 or follow him at Twitter.com/hmintz.

SAN FRANCISCO — The drama over the fate of a divorcing couple”s fertilized embryos has reached its final stages, with the wife getting a chance to tell her story to a judge deciding the precedent-setting legal showdown.

In a trial that has attracted nationwide attention, including a “Good Morning America” crew, Mimi Lee, a Harvard-educated anesthesiologist and breast cancer survivor, is expected to testify Thursday in a bid to claim control over the stored frozen embryos to preserve her only chance to have children.

The 46-year-old Lee, rendered infertile by cancer treatment, is locked in the midst of a bitter divorce feud with estranged husband Stephen Findley, who wants the embryos, stored at UCSF”s fertility center, destroyed under the terms of agreements they signed when she underwent fertility treatments five years ago.

The case, considered an unprecedented test in California of the legal boundaries of such disputes, started with Findley taking the stand Tuesday and Wednesday to testify that he believed the couple signed a binding agreement that the embryos would be destroyed under certain circumstances, including divorce. Findley, a wealthy investment executive, has resolved the rest of his divorce case with Lee, including financial terms.

During his testimony, Findley described worries about the embryos bearing his children, saying he would want to be involved in their lives but cannot envision how it could work given that he is unable to have a cordial conversation with Lee. Findley testified that Lee even tried to extort millions of dollars from him for the embryos after he asked for a divorce, and always believed the embryos would be discarded if the couple split.

He also told a judge that Lee warned him about what she”d tell any children born from the embryos about their father if he was not “generous” in the divorce.

“(It would be) difficult for me to be forced to be a parent outside our marriage,” said Findley, who has been on crutches for the trial, the result of recent foot surgery. “I didn”t think the embryos were an issue in the divorce case because I remember the agreement we signed.”

On the eve of their September 2010 wedding, Lee was diagnosed with cancer, prompting the couple to rush to UCSF”s fertility center, where five of Lee”s embryos — fertilized by Findley — were cryogenically frozen and preserved for a possible future with offspring. The couple is now fighting over those embryos in the divorce.

In Lee”s case, her lawyers are urging Superior Court Judge Anne-Christine Massullo to find that destroying the embryos would destroy an infertile woman”s ability to “realize the fundamental and constitutionally protected bond of a parent and a child.”

Findley, however, relies on signed documents at UCSF that included provisions for destroying the embryos under various circumstances, including divorce; he considers those agreements a binding contract. Despite the emotional underpinnings of the dispute, the language and force of those agreements is at the heart of the trial.

Closing arguments are expected early next week. Once the trial is over, the judge plans to take the matter under consideration and issue a written ruling later.

UCSF, meanwhile, is caught in the middle but takes the position that its signed directives should be considered “valid and enforceable” by the courts.

While the trial breaks new ground in California, where the courts have yet to address the question directly, feuding couples in other states have forced the legal system to deal with the modern dilemma of deciding who gets to decide the fate of these stored embryos in the event of a split.

The most high-profile example has been the recent spat between Hollywood star Sofia Vergara and ex-fiance Nick Loeb, who has sued for custody of their stored embryos. And a Chicago appeals court last month ruled in a high-profile case that a woman in a situation similar to Lee”s — she was also left infertile by cancer — could use the embryos despite her ex-boyfriend”s opposition.

Howard Mintz covers legal affairs. Contact him at 408-286-0236 or follow him at Twitter.com/hmintz.